Aisen Ghost Story
by Mako Streak
Summary: The Aisen Ghosts- once legendary warriors wandering the globe in search of an enemy... Lily and her brother Kass set out to seek them out. But the enemy might be closer than Lily and Kass can see...
1. Storytime!

Many, many years ago, before the judges, there was the Great War. Ivalice waged war upon the kingdom of-

Lily jumped up. "But I thought that there always were Judges!"

Grandpa sighed. "No, Lily, this was a time before even the Judges. Everything was a Jadg, a lawless, wild place."

"Sounds good to me," Kass commented.

Grandpa scowled but continued.

"Ever so steadily, the Eastern Lands gained ground upon our Ivalice. In his desperation, King Jontun sent his last hope-"

"Clan of the Silver Swords!" all the assembled children shrieked.

"Yes, the Silver Swords. They were the bravest, strongest, toughest clan out there- the trusted enforcers of the kingdom."

"But I thought there were no kingdoms!"

"I merely said there were no Judges, not no kingdoms. So, the Silver Swords traveled to theLast Battlefield. They were outnumbered, yes, one-hundred to one, but they knew the terrain. But as the battle was joined, King Jontun saw that it was a hopeless battle-"

Lily shrieked with alarm and Kass squeezed his play sword even tighter.

"What happened?" Roselle asked.

"In the morning, all theinvaderslay dead. The Silver Swords had prevailed!" He made a fist in the air. "But as the sun rose, it shone upon the blood of the Silver Swords. Although they had fought and won, they too would die soon."

All the children let out a cry.

"But as the life began to seep from their bodies, a transformation came about them. Fueled by their thirst for venegence, they tranformed into the creatures..." He paused dramatically.

"Lutia, proud Lutia, transformed into a Zombie because she had been self-sacrificing yet exploitive." The hologram of the beautiful Assassin he held morphed intoan undead.

"Gregor, their leader, turned too into an undead, for although he was strong and charismatic,he often drained opponents of their sanity one too many times." The proud Soldier hologram in his hand lapsed too into an Undead.

"Lowa turned into a Tonberry due to the angry, rage-filled nature of his heart." The burly Gladiator turned into a Tonberry, the fire in its eyes glowing madly.

"Due to his spiteful side, Caleb was transformed into a Floateye." The hologram ofthe innocent-seeming Blue Mage melted into the round form of a Floateye.

"And Opelia, sweet Opelia, was transformed into a vampire in penance for her ability to drain anything out of anyone." The dainty, sweet-looking Summoner stretched out into the form of a cloaked Vampire.

Lily gasped. "Where are they now?" she asked eargerly.

Grandfather laughed. "Oh no, you can't look for them unless you're with a clan. You see, now they wander all of Ivalice, searching for those last Queen's Guard..." Grandfather began to cough. "Well, they wander around, and will wander for eternity, lest someone put them to rest. Now, you best avoid them, they have all been transformed by their dark sides- cough!"

Lily nodded.

"Lilly, Kass, it's time for bed," a Sniper with an apron called from the stairs. Kass groaned, wishing that Mother had never hired that Sniper from Clan Bastila to be their nanny. But she needed good, strong protection, considering that she was the owner of two whole estates...

"Coming, Nanna," Lily called, moving towards the stairs. Grandpa remained in his chair, the amulet against viruses glowing softly in the lamplight.No one, not even himself, knew what specie he was anymore- maybe he was an ancientnu mou with a stretched-out body, maybe he was a human elder with a funny head, maybe he was a decrypt bangaa with a too-short muzzle, or maybe he was an over-grown moogle. But whatever specie he was, he told great stories and wondrous tales of his younger, travelling, clanning days.

"Lily, I hope that Grandpa's stories didn't give you any idea," Nanna said sternly. "I've been dispatched for this mission, and I do intend to accomplish it."

Lily nodded. But inside her minds, gears turned...


	2. The Gears turn again!

Lily couldn't hear the Sniper's footsteps outside her and her brother's room, but she knew that Nanawas there for sure. And there were no secrets possible to keep from her either... Unless...

Lily murmured a soft Glow spell and scribbled on a piece of paper, which she tossedto her brother.

Kass picked it up as it bounced off his head. "Ow! Hey-"

"Read!" she hissed. "I mean," she said louder for Nana to hear, "I read a whole book on my own! Er, I mean read!" Lily winked.

_Bro, I think that I know where the Silver Sword are. Remember the clan that came through and everyone was scared out of their wits? Aisen Ghosts! I think that _they're _them!_

Kass nodded. "So?"

Lily frowned and scribbled on another paper. "Well, let's go find them."

Kass shook his head. "I'm not so sure..I mean, there're things in the night, like Floateye, Panthers..."

"Fine, then we'll go... Let's see..."

"Nana?" Lily called.

The Sniper was standing near the door, her bow strung, as she always was. Nana was always suspecting an attack!

"Just two more days, then I can go..." Nana murmured, then spun around. "Huh?"

"Nana, what are you saying?" Lily asked innocently.

"So I can go back to my clan, er, nothing," Nana said politely.

Lily nodded. "Well, me n' Kass are just going to go outside real quick..." Lily's voice trailed off.

Nanna shookher head. "Sure, but I'm coming with you."

Lily whined. "But we don't want grown-ups chasing us every-"

"I'm coming, or you're staying."

Lily nodded, knowing it was best not to argue with a well-armed Sniper. But again, the gears turned...


	3. Bribery and a few servings of insanity

Nanna's name was actually Teresa. Oh, she loved children all right, and she adored little kids, but staying with them for ten days straight was more than she could bear. Children were not like engagements and clanmates and prizes and weapons. But at least she didn't need to be outside… Her whole clan hated being outside. The only time was when Teresa needed to take them out for walks in the flowery park. They needed too much responsibility and every single twitch of her senses. She sighed as she heard a loud crash from upstairs. "Lily, I hope that wasn't you," Teresa warned.

"No, it wasn't me, it was Kass," Lily explained. "Nanna, can you take us to the pool?"

Teresa couldn't say no. "Fine, come on."

Teresa sighed as the two siblings frolicked in the water hole. Of course it was easy to lose sight of them, and the Sniper uniform was very itchy…

"Nanna, I lost my marbles," Lily announced from the water.

Teresa was tempted to say that she definitely had. But caring for them was her first priority… "Where?"

"They drowned!" Lily explained. "I can't reach the bottom of the water."

Teresa nodded. She had had lessons on diving since she was a child. "Okay, I'm coming," she sighed.

But Lily shook her head. "You can't swim with your uniform," she explained.

Teresa scowled. "Watch me then."

Kass shook his head. "Well, you can just hang a net or something," he offered.

Their babysitter nodded. "Well… Duck," she commanded.

An arrow with a rope and a net attached whizzed by, embedding itself in a tree.

"Okay, I'm coming," Teresa called, climbing up the tree. But all of a sudden…

Three moogles leaped out of the leafy boughs and brought Teresa off the tree. The Sniper screamed and fell into the water.

"Come on!" Lily yelled to Kass as they hopped away, leaving the moogles' pay on the banks.

"I think we overdid it, kupo," Leroy observed as he dragged out the unconscious viera.

"She just hit her head on a rock, kupo, she'll come 'round."

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"I can't believe we pulled it off!" Lily exclaimed excitedly as the two made their way across the Aisen Fields. It was an empty place, with only a few groves of trees and a few spots of plants scattered across the wide expanse of chest-high, blowing grass.

Kass giggled as the grasses tickled him. "Well, where did you say the Silver Swords would be?"

Lily took out a parchment. "Don't tell," she said. "Pinky promise?"

"Cross my heart, hope to die, stick some random Blue Mage's saber in my eye," her brother promised, shaking her little finger with his own.

"Okay. This is a clan record I found in Nanna's pack," she explained. "Apparently, Clan Nutsy claims that they battled clan Aisen Ghosts just yesterday here in Aisen Field," she explained.

"Aisen Ghosts? But they're a clan…"

Lily nodded. "I found out. Remember when they stopped by through town, there were the exact same creatures as the Silver Swords transformed into?" she asked. "Yeah. I think that Clan Aisen Ghosts are the Silver Swords, only dead."

She may have said more if a Floateye's battle shriek had not flooded the empty, rolling grasses.

"Kass!" she shrieked. "Did you hear that?" Lily clutched her play staff. "I think that they're near…"

Kass nodded, frightened. All of a sudden, two zombies burst through the grasses, groaning. Lily caught a whiff of the awful decay smell before she ran.

Lily ran as fast as she could. The grasses whipped her face so painfully, like sharp, tan whips, but she still ran. The Floateye was behind her! She could feel the wind of its huge wings as it pursued her through the grasses.

Its claws grabbed her collar. She screamed. "NANA! NANA!" she wailed as the ground sank away from her feet.

Kass screamed too as an Antlion roared out of thegrasses, its huge gaping jaws and needlelike legs snapping and spindling away too rapidly.

There was an engraged screech as a Tonberry trundled its way towards them, knife raised.

The twins screamed in unision...

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Teresa groaned softly.

"Well, I don't believe I'm doing this, but those kids have one big allowance," the Red Mage commented, casting another Sleep over the Sniper.

Teresa let out a soft breath and "Don't worry honey.. I'll come back..." And her head lolled back.

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Kass and Teresa were scared, too scared to even be scared... Too scared to even scream...

The whole Clan Aiesien Ghosts surround the twins. The Floateye, the Antlion, two Zombies, a Tonberry, and a Vampire stood in a circle.

The Tonberry wailed, its voice full of venegence and wrath long-thirsted and starved for a lifetime.

Kass and Lily screamed.

The setting sun reflected against the Floateye.

The last crescent of the sun had gone down, and the moon was rising.

And an astonishing change came over the Aiesien Ghosts!


End file.
